BLACKSBURG — As soon as Antone Exum looked in his locker Tuesday and saw the bright white practice jersey instead of the frayed blue jersey he'd been wearing in recent weeks, he knew all the rehab was worth it.

For the first time since December, Exum was back at full speed Tuesday on Virginia Tech's practice field. His right knee, which he had surgery on in February to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament, torn medial and lateral meniscus and a bone fracture, was cleared Monday in Florida by Dr. James Andrews.

Exum will make his season debut Saturday as a starting cornerback, and not as a safety, against North Carolina (1-3 overall, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) if he finishes the week of practice at full strength. He jumped back into the thick of things on the practice field by getting involved in tackling circuits and contact drills.

"I was like, 'Man, this is clean. I've got to roll around or something,'" said Exum of the white regular practice jersey that replaced the blue jersey that had indicated limited participation in practice.

"I was a full player with the (defensive backs Tuesday). No blue jersey. I didn't hold out from anything."

Tech defensive backs coach Torrian Gray confirmed Exum will be back in his regular cornerback position. Exum, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound senior, will take over the starting job that has been occupied by true freshman Brandon Facyson, who is tied for the national lead with four interceptions.

Now Gray has the best dilemma of all. How does he get four qualified cornerbacks — Exum and fellow starter Kyle Fuller, plus true freshmen Kendall Fuller and Facyson — on the field?

"I've never had this situation before and I don't know if you'll ever have it again where you've got four guys that are like, 'Wow, somebody has to be kind of cutback there,'" Gray said. "It's better to have it on that end than not have enough."

Gray will put Kendall Fuller, who has two interceptions this season, on the field in nickel package situations. Tech (4-1, 1-0) will play a lot of nickel against UNC, which is 24th in the nation in passing offense (296.8 yards per game). UNC has struggled this season, but quarterback Bryn Renner leads the ACC with an average of 279.2 yards passing per game.

For now, Facyson appears to be the man that will have to be worked into the rotation at cornerback, but he may actually have an expanded role. He worked in practice some Tuesday at wide receiver, and could have a package of plays available to him on offense.

When asked which meeting room Facyson is working out of this week, Gray didn't hesitate.

"He's a defensive back," Gray said. "He's not a wide receiver."

"It's tough (for Facyson to lose his starting job). You put it all in perspective. He's done a great job, but if Brandon was in (Exum's) situation, he was a senior and he came back from injury, he'd do the same thing."

Gray indicated there was no doubt about which position Exum would play when he returned. He was an honorable mention All-ACC safety in 2011, but he started at cornerback last season and earned second-team All-ACC honors.

"He's a corner," Gray said. "We've got two good safeties right now that are playing well. We'll see how he works this week, but we'll probably try to work him in half the game and go from there."

Exum said he went through a series of strength tests Monday morning in Pensacola, Fla., before meeting with Andrews, who reviewed the results of the tests and cleared Exum. Though Exum feels for Facyson, Exum is hoping there's a way to get Facyson playing time at cornerback.

"He's played very well, definitely a game-changing player," Exum said. "He's stepped in and made a lot of big plays. … It does suck though (that Facyson won't start), and I hope that they find a way to work him in, because he's definitely a big-time player."

Our bloodiest falls, literal and figurative, occur when we're riding high and/or not paying attention. It happened to me as a kid, face-planting into cement steps while running mindlessly in the garage, getting pinched for cutting school after a decent report card.

Two sequences defined Virginia Tech’s defensive dominance in Thursday night’s 17-10 victory at Georgia Tech. Both came on short yardage and showcased a strength against the run that, while long a program staple, had been missing in recent seasons.